Egyptian military seeks 'peaceful transition'

A statement from Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to the nation (transcribed from Arabic by the Associated Press):

"In view of the ongoing events that will determine the future of the country, and in line with the continuous monitoring of the internal and external developments and the president's decision to delegate his power to the vice president, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces decides to guarantee the implementation of the following steps:

First:

- Ending the state of emergency once the present circumstances end.

- The outcome of the [court] appeals against the parliamentary election and the measures that will follow.

- Implementation of the constitutional amendments and holding a free and fair presidential election in line with the agreed constitutional amendments.

Second:

- The armed forces are committed to shepherding the legitimate demands of the people and [strive] with firmness and accuracy to ensure their implementation within a definitive timetable until the realization of a peaceful transition that produces the democratic society to which people aspire.

Third:

- The armed forces stress that there will be no detention of the honorable sons of the nation who rejected corruption and demanded reform.

- It [the armed forces] stresses the importance of resuming work at government's services, the return of normal life in order to preserve the interests and the achievements of our great people."